I see red. A roar rips from my chest as I charge through anyone and anything in my way. I plow into the man holding her and slam him into the doorframe. There’s a satisfying crunch as his back hits wood.
Mara collapses forward, sucking in a ragged breath. Her eyes find mine. There’s relief in them, pure and stupid and ours?—
A blunt, heavy force cracks across the back of my skull. Stars burst behind my eyes. The handler wrenches her away from me, and I stumble, fighting off black spots in my vision.No… no!
Mara kicks and fights like a wildcat. She lands a solid hit on someone; I hear a man snarl in pain. Pride surges in me even as I go down to one knee.That’s my girl.She’s twisting, clawing, trying to break free as they drag her into the hallway.
We make one last mad rush—three battered, furious men throwing ourselves at a wall of armed suits.
It isn’t enough.
We’re outnumbered, outflanked, and we spent the last of our strength on her.
I watch in horror as a swarm of black suits muscle Mara through the doorway and down the hall in a tide of force. Her naked legs kick out, her nails rake bloody lines down an arm. She’s screaming my name, and it’s the worst sound I’ve ever heard.
By the time I half stumble, half fall down the staircase and burst out through what’s left of the front door, they’re already shoving her into the back of a black SUV.
For one heartbeat, Mara fights her way to the edge of the open car door. Her eyes meet mine across the distance—terrified, pleading,furious all at once. She reaches a hand out as if she can touch me, as if I could still pull her back.
The nearest suit slams the door shut, cutting off her scream. Tires squeal against asphalt as the SUV surges forward. I hurtle off the porch, sprinting barefoot and bleeding after the vehicle like I can catch it on foot, but it’s too late. It peels off down the street, a black blur carrying her away.
I sway in the middle of the street, naked and covered in cuts, watching the SUV disappear around a distant corner. Gone. She’s gone.
A coppery taste blooms in my mouth; I realize I’m biting the inside of my cheek so hard I drew blood. Everything hurts, but nothing as much as the empty ache of my arms.
Behind me, the house is wrecked. The front door hangs off one hinge. Inside, the entryway and stairs are littered with splintered wood, shattered glass, and groaning men in suits who didn’t quite make it out. Dredyn limps onto the porch, his face a mask of blood and fury. Jasper staggers into the doorway, his chest heaving, one eye already swelling shut. We’re all bruised, bleeding, barely standing.
We look like hell.
“I’ll kill Clark Black,” Dredyn growls, spitting blood onto the porch.
Jasper wipes a streak of blood from his cheek. He meets my eyes, then Dredyn’s. In the gray morning light, he looks older, harder—ready to raise hell. He lifts his hand and signs one word,“War.”
“They just took her to lock her back in the cage. Her old man’s about to be president. You know what that means? He’s untouchable. And if he has his way, so is Mara.”
Dredyn drags a hand down his face, smearing blood across his jaw. “We knew this was coming the second we walked her across that quad on a leash. We made her their headline.”
“Don’t act like you wouldn’t do it again. She wanted it.”
“Thisis a part of her plan.”
I freeze. “Her plan?”
Dredyn barks a laugh that’s more snarl than anything else. “Then what the fuck is ours?” He storms back inside before I can answer. We follow. He snatches his phone off the table and curses under his breath at the screen.
“What?” I snap.
“My dad,” Dredyn says. “If he’s calling this much, the Syndicate’s already spinning this. And if he gives a shit? I’m fucked. I have to call him back.” He storms off, thumb trembling over the screen.
I glance at Jasper. “What the hell do we do, man?”
He doesn’t hesitate.“We prove Chase killed her.”
“You mean your sister,” I say.
“Only way to get Mara back.”
I laugh. It’s raw and short and bitter. “So that’s the plan? Drag Chase Harrington’s bloody secret into daylight, blow the Syndicate open, and hope it topples a president?”
